News

2012-02-28 09:07:06.247

Daily Stop Yields $10,000 Scratchers Prize

He says he buys random Missouri Lottery Scratchers games at a variety of price points, depending upon his mood, but it was “location, location, location” that led James Schmidt of Columbia to a $10,000 prize.

“I’ve been going in and out of there about every morning for years,” he said of his routine stop for Lottery tickets at Phillips MPC, 1412 Rangeline, in Columbia.

On Feb. 26, the regular visit led to the purchase of a “$1,000,000 Payout” ticket, which revealed a $10,000 prize – one of approximately 1,500 prizes worth $1,000 or more made available in the game.

As Schmidt scratched the ticket “right there on the counter,” he realized that the “7” he uncovered on the bottom portion of his ticket matched the “7” listed as one of the “Winning Numbers” at the top.

He laughed as he recalled the surprised reaction of workers and others in the store.

“They said, ‘You ought to be jumping up and down or something,’” he explained.

More laughter surfaced as he thought about what he would do with his prize money.

“Spend it!” he answered.

When asked if he plans to spend any of it on Missouri Lottery Scratchers tickets, Schmidt had a ready response.

“You can bet on that,” he teased, adding that he also plans to use a portion of the money to help out family.

“$1,000,000 Payout” is a $10 game that officially started Jan. 10 and offers a top prize of $1 million. Remaining prizes for this game, and all Missouri Lottery Scratchers games, can be tracked at Molottery.com.